World War I Figure. Clotilde Bizolon became a French heroine during World War I by caring for wounded soldiers. For her devotion to her work, she was decorated with the Legion of Honor for service to her nation and gained fame as the "patron saint of Lyon's Corks." After the death of her husband and her son being killed on the front lines during the beginning of World War I, she felt alone and needed to give something back to the brave soldiers. She decided to serve refreshments to them as they passed by her home. At first, she only had a stand for refreshments, but later, with the help of an American benefactor and a local government official, she opened a much better stand with a place for relaxation. She served coffee, tea, or wine with the donations she collected. The British soldiers called her "the Mum of the Hairy;" hairy was a term given to World War I soldiers in the trenches. Naming her "Mother Bizolon," the soldiers would thank her by singing "La Madelon," a popular stage song of the era. At the end of World War I, she converted his husband's shoe shop into a roadhouse diner for travelers. At the beginning of World War II in 1939, her refreshment bar for soldiers reopened. On February 29, 1940, she was the victim of a heinous crime when she was attacked in her own home, dying from her injuries three days later. Her funeral was attended by hundreds of moaners. With the waging of World War II, the investigation of her death was limited. The crime was never solved. Her home is marked with a plaque to Madame Bizolon, "the mother of the Poilus, in Lyon-Perrache station." A short street was named in her honor in Lyons. Sylvie Feyeux's 1998 paperback book, "Petit Monde de La Rue Henri IV," tells her story from the death of her son to her own death.
World War I Figure. Clotilde Bizolon became a French heroine during World War I by caring for wounded soldiers. For her devotion to her work, she was decorated with the Legion of Honor for service to her nation and gained fame as the "patron saint of Lyon's Corks." After the death of her husband and her son being killed on the front lines during the beginning of World War I, she felt alone and needed to give something back to the brave soldiers. She decided to serve refreshments to them as they passed by her home. At first, she only had a stand for refreshments, but later, with the help of an American benefactor and a local government official, she opened a much better stand with a place for relaxation. She served coffee, tea, or wine with the donations she collected. The British soldiers called her "the Mum of the Hairy;" hairy was a term given to World War I soldiers in the trenches. Naming her "Mother Bizolon," the soldiers would thank her by singing "La Madelon," a popular stage song of the era. At the end of World War I, she converted his husband's shoe shop into a roadhouse diner for travelers. At the beginning of World War II in 1939, her refreshment bar for soldiers reopened. On February 29, 1940, she was the victim of a heinous crime when she was attacked in her own home, dying from her injuries three days later. Her funeral was attended by hundreds of moaners. With the waging of World War II, the investigation of her death was limited. The crime was never solved. Her home is marked with a plaque to Madame Bizolon, "the mother of the Poilus, in Lyon-Perrache station." A short street was named in her honor in Lyons. Sylvie Feyeux's 1998 paperback book, "Petit Monde de La Rue Henri IV," tells her story from the death of her son to her own death.
Bio by: Linda Davis
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